BENGALURU: The Hubballi-Ankola rail project will lead to felling of over 2 lakh trees in Karwar and Yellapur divisions, according to a report released by a three-member committee. This is as per a sample enumeration done in 2016.
An assessment has to be done in Dharwad division as the last enumeration was done in 2005. A final assessment of tree cover is yet to be made for all three divisions.
The committee was set up by the regional office of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) as per the directions of the National Green Tribunal on February 19, 2016. The Tribunal had asked Railways to come up with a revised proposal and seek MoEF’s approval.
The committee’s brief was to carry out inspections on the proposed 595.64 hectare area of forest area that will be used for the construction of the 168.28km broad gauge railway line from Hubballi to Ankola. It has raised objections as it feels the project may lead to heavy deforestation in the Western Ghats and loss of wildlife habitat.
The committee states, “The number of trees proposed to be felled is very high and we suggest that an environmental impact assessment study is held. The forest area in Yellapur and Karwar divisions is very dense and part of Western Ghats and this will be completely disturbed if this project is approved. The Railways’ proposal to construct 34 tunnels and nine railway stations will require additional forest area which is not part of the land use plan presently. Most of these are on forest lands.”
The comittee adds, “The railway track was initially proposed for transportation of iron and manganese ore which at present is not justified. As of now, not many trucks are seen plying on NH-63 which runs almost parallel to the proposed railway track. The capacity of the existing road is not fully utilised, so where is the need for a rail track?”
The land mass where the railway line is proposed is between Kadra, Kodsalli, Supa dams, Kaiga Atomic Power Project and Gangavali river.
The local and spillout wildlife population of Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary and Kali Tiger Reserve are dependent on this piece of land. The project will further divide the land mass into small pieces, making wildlife vulnerable to road accidents and poachers.